1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 4 5 HENRY McCOY, KATHERINE “KITTY” Case No. 17-civ-9636-MDD PRYDE, and DOES 1-30, inclusive, 6 7 Plaintiffs, 8 vs. GOVERNMENT’S BRIEF 9 WILLIAM STRYKER, President of the United States, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF Date: 18 February 2017 10 Time: 3:15 p.m. DEFENSE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, Judge: Hon. Mitchell D. Dembin 11 Secretary of US Department of Defense, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE and 12 JOHN BYRNE, Attorney General, 13 Defendants. 14 WILLIAM STRYKER, President of the United States, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 15 16 DEFENSE and its Secretary, CHRIS CLAREMONT, and U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 17 JUSTICE and JOHN BYRNE, Attorney General (“Defendants”), by and through their 18 counsel of record, and submits the following brief in support of Executive Order No. 19 09101963 and the Mutual Registration Action (“MRA”). 20 INTRODUCTION 21 We are living a new, unprecedented world where mutants can control the weather, 22 infiltrate our minds, shapeshift, phase, destroy cities, and enslave entire civilizations. But, 23 what are mutants? They are humans with extraordinary special abilities granted by what 24 is known as “the Mutant X-gene.” They have lived among us, unregulated by the laws of 25 mankind for too long. Today, we present mutants with a simple choice: be a threat to 26 humanity or become a part of it. 27 Not all mutants seek to co-exist peacefully. We must confront the reality that there 28 are those who would rule mankind, rather than join it. We must act today to create a 1 1 future for everyone, or there will be no future for anyone. This is a war for survival that 2 only together we can win. 3 Our enemies have made themselves known: Magneto, Mystique, Mr. Sinister, 4 Omega-Red, Sabretooth, Wolverine, Apocalypse and Phoenix. Their terrorist 5 organizations are known as “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants,” “Weapon-X,”, “The 6 Hellfire Club,” “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” “The New Mutants,” and “The X- 7 Men,” and the foreign mutant terrorist group, “Excalibur.” Each of these groups include 8 both radicalized U.S.-born mutants and foreign-born mutants. Make no mistake; these 9 groups advocate for the interests of their own members, not for mutants generally, despite 10 their propaganda and deceptive rhetoric. 11 The offenses these mutants and groups have committed are innumerable. They 12 have intentionally and recklessly destroyed our cities. They have kidnapped, enslaved 13 and murdered both humans and mutants alike. They have infiltrated the highest levels of 14 governments and militaries worldwide. These mutant-terrorists have acted with complete 15 disregard for the law, with zero consequence. As a result, America has lived in quiet 16 discomfort with mutant misbehavior. That ends now. 17 Who, then, will protect the innocents – men, women and children – from injury, 18 enslavement, or death? We, the People, – mutant and human alike – must act together to 19 protect our way of life from those who seek to crush us without a second thought, like 20 ants under a boot. The United States has tolerated lawlessness for too long. We need law 21 and order, now. 22 The Mutant Registration Act (MRA) is the ultimate answer to the mutant question. 23 It is an olive branch between humans and mutants – a reasonable request that makes us 24 all more free and secure in the new world we all live in now. The MRA is implemented 25 in the best interests of not only mutants, but also humans. This is the U.S. Government’s 26 attempt to reach out to mutants in an effort to help them control their abilities, which will 27 28 2 1 not only protect others from mutants’ powers, but also protect mutants from losing 2 control of their own powers. 3 All mutants have the choice whether to comply with the law, but if they don’t, then 4 a warrant for their arrest will be issued and all necessary force to apprehend and detain 5 will be authorized. The law is designed to (1) eliminate vigilantes and super-villains by 6 uncovering the “secret identities” of mutants through registration; (2) train and educate 7 mutants in harnessing and controlling their powers; and (3) hold those mutants 8 accountable who violate the law or act with impunity. The MRA represents the natural 9 evolution of the role of super-humans and mutants in society. Mutants can no longer act 10 outside the law; instead, they must go legitimate and earn back public trust. This law will 11 allow mutants to come out from the shadows and use their powers for the benefit of the 12 entire country, which will create progress and prosperity for both humans and mutants, 13 together. 14 FACTUAL BACKGROUND 15 Executive Order 09101963 applies to every mutant involved in the New York 16 Mutant Hostilities, colloquially known in the press as “The Inferno1,” whether they are 17 domestic- or foreign-born. High level government officials have concluded, on the basis 18 of the mutant’s action in New York, that these mutants pose a “continued and imminent 19 threat” of violence to United States persons and interest. The U.S. Department of 20 Defense has ordered that all individuals with the Mutant X-Gene are to be registered to 21 ensure national security in compliance with Executive Order 09101963. 22 The Government’s brief will address the following issues: (1) the President’s 23 Executive Authority to implement the Mutant Registration Act; (2) the constitutionality 24 and reasonableness of the Government’s mutant registration request; and (3) the 25 26 1 Mutants attacked the Empire State Building and surrounding buildings, causing damage to the 27 buildings’ façade and internal structure. Mutants released a nerve agent in the New York subway system, resulting in mass hallucinations, including riders believing that their trains took them “to hell,” and inducing 28 hysteria and injuries attributed to perceived attacks by inanimate objects to exposed city residents. 3 1 authorization and constitutional use of the SENTINEL program to bring defiant and 2 subversive mutants into compliance with the law. 3 ARGUMENT 4 5 A. THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH IS AUTHORIZED TO IMPLEMENT THE MUTANT REGISTRATION ACT (MRA) PURSUANT TO THE U.S. 6 CONSTITUTION. 7 “Citizenship has its responsibilities as well as its privileges, and in time of war the 8 burden is always heavier.” Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944). Our country 9 has been attacked, invaded, and sabotaged. Right now, New York City and its nearly 8.4 10 million residents are under continuous siege as a result of mutant activity. The law is 11 12 clear that when invasion is threatened, every possible precaution against espionage and 13 sabotage must be taken and “[p]ressing public necessity may sometimes justify the 14 existence of such restrictions.” Id. at 216; see also, Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 15 U.S. 81 (1943); Yasui v. United States, 320 U.S. 115 (1943); Ex parte Mitsuye Endo, 323 16 U.S. 283 (1944). 17 The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II provided that justification. 18 On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 19 authorizing the Secretary of War and certain military commanders to “prescribe military 20 areas from which any persons may be excluded as protection against espionage and 21 sabotage.” Korematsu v. United States, 584 F. Supp. 1406, (1984). Congress also enacted 22 §97(a) of Title 18 of the United States Code, enforcing the exclusions authorized under 23 the Executive Order. 24 Then, on March 2, 1942, General John L. DeWitt, Military Commander of the 25 Western Defense Command, issued Public Proclamation No. 1 pursuant to Executive 26 Order 9066, designating the entire Pacific Coast “subject to espionage and acts of 27 sabotage, thereby requiring the adoption of military measures necessary to establish 28 safeguards against such enemy operations.” Id. at 1409. The U. S. Supreme Court applied 4 1 the strictest scrutiny in reviewing the Executive Order and was “unable to conclude that it 2 was beyond the war power of Congress and the Executive to exclude those from the West 3 Coast war area at the time they did.” Korematsu (1944) at 217-218. 4 The internment of the Japanese has been criticized as a reaction to racial hysteria 5 and wartime frenzy, but that is not the situation today. The Government’s response to the 6 mutant crisis is not based on hysteria, frenzy or some military general’s opinion, but on 7 freedom and security concerns in response to a chain of sustained, mutant-related attacks 8 within our borders. The chaos gripping the nation’s most famous metropolis can be 9 viewed on cable television and live video stream every single day. There is no deception 10 or fraud necessary for all to realize that our homeland is under attack, including 11 significant acts of terror and espionage. Without urgent attention, we risk losing control 12 not only of our national sovereignty, but also of our own future. 13 Numerous mutants have declared war on humanity: Magneto seeks to create a 14 future were mutants live superior to humans with the aid of Mystique, who can steal the 15 identity of any person; Apocalypse has declared himself superior to humans and mutants 16 and seeks to destroy them both; and Mr. Sinister creates plagues and viruses while he 17 experiments with cloning, creating, enhancing and controlling mutant powers. 18 These mutants are the saboteurs and spies of the new war confronting us.